News 21.12.2017The theme of sustainability is a popular way for higher education institutions to communicate a distinct profileAre references to socially relevant themes suitable for describing the particular profile and strengths of a higher education institution in a way that is commonly understood? The CHE Centre for Higher Education has conducted a study to explore this question.

News 18.12.2017Human resources development at higher education institutionsWhat is the significance of human resources development for higher education institutions? And what role do university boards of trustees play in this context? The Update newsletter provides impetus from the field. The newsletter summarises the results of the University Board of Trustees Forum, which met in Berlin on 25 September 2017

News 13.12.2017CHE predicts that the rush of new students is here to stayThe number of students starting university will remain at more than 425,000 each year up until 2050, which is far higher than 2005 levels. As a consequence, the CHE Centre for Higher Education considers it to be a national responsibility to undertake a long-term, reliable reform of higher education funding beyond the present Higher Education Pact.

News 04.12.2017Industrial/technical subjects: serious shortage of new teachers in vocational education calls for a step changeGermany’s vocational schools are experiencing major problems attracting fully qualified teaching staff, particularly in the case of industrial/technical subjects. The number of students graduating from such Teacher Education degree programmes remains particularly low and is unlikely to meet the growing need for teachers in these subjects in the future. Education experts believe that this shortage of qualified teachers could put vocational education at risk in the medium term. In a publication issued by Monitor Lehrerbildung, the experts call for more attractive conditions and the expansion of opportunities for the recruitment of lateral entrants to teaching positions at vocational schools without compromising quality

News 04.12.2017New CHE University Ranking of Master’s programmes in Business Administration, Economics, Business Computing and Economic SciencesThe latest online ranking, published today, reflects the opinions of students pursuing a Master’s degree in Business Administration, Business Computing, Economics and Economic Sciences. ZEIT Campus has published the results of a selection of criteria. Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences does especially well in the CHE University Ranking of Master’s programmes in Business Administration at universities of applied sciences. Göttingen University and Mannheim University do extremely well in the ranking of Business Administration programmes at universities

News 17.11.2017Growing significance of studying while in employmentIn the future, both universities and universities of applied sciences will increasingly be required to respond to the growing need to combine study with employment. This is the conclusion reached by the closing expert round table of the CHE forum on “Design concepts for studying while in employment“ in Berlin. The event, which was full to capacity with 100 participants, demonstrated the fact that this development not only concerns academic continuing education, the sector in which most executive programmes are offered, but also conventional study programmes at Bachelor and Master’s level

News 16.11.2017Professor Dr. Hans-Hennig von Grünberg, President of Hochschule Niederrhein, is “University Manager of the Year 2017”The honouring, presented by the weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT and the CHE Centre for Higher Education, aims to acknowledge leaders of German higher education institutions who have shaped the development of their organisation with outstanding leadership and initiated innovative change processes. The honouring ceremony will take place during the “Hochschule & Bildung” ZEIT KONFERENZ in Berlin on 16 November 2017.

News 25.10.2017U-Multirank announces new funding partners: Philanthropic support for an open transparency tool in higher educationU-Multirank, the largest global university ranking, has announced today new funding partners for the 2018 and 2019 editions. The European Commission will continue to support U-Multirank with partial funding through its Erasmus+ Programme. Joining the new structure are the Bertelsmann Foundation in Germany and Santander Group in Spain.

News 28.09.2017Part-time employment is commonplace, unlike part-time studyMore than one third of the population in Germany do not work full-time. By contrast, the issue of part-time study has not yet become established. Officially, only 6.8 per cent of the student population study on a part-time basis. Only 12.8 per cent of all degree programmes are expressly open to students wishing to handle a reduced workload. These are the findings of an analysis conducted by the CHE Centre for Higher Education.

News 14.09.2017Work-Life Balance 4.0 − New ways of achieving family-friendly universities?During the fourth annual conference of the “Family in Higher Education Institutions” university initiative, held in Vienna on 14 and 15 September 2017, 13 more higher education institutions will sign up to the “Family in Higher Education Institutions” charter. The network now has 101 member institutions. Four Austrian higher education institutions are among the undersigned.

Artikel 31.08.2017Higher education institutions need strategies for the digital ageHow can higher education institutions seize the opportunities presented by digitalization to enhance their institutional profile and mission? This question is addressed in an article by a group of authors from the CHE Centre for Higher Education. The article is included in an international edited volume entitled “Prospects and Future Tasks of Universities”, which was published on 23 August 2017.

News 06.07.2017Winter semester 2017/18: Hamburg has the highest proportion of numerus clausus subjectsMid-July is the closing date for applications for many degree programmes subject to restricted admission starting next winter semester. The latest Numerus Clausus Check by the CHE Centre for Higher Education reveals significant differences between federal states as well as between subjects. Even so, more than half of all degree programmes on average can be embarked on without a selection procedure.

News 27.06.2017Waitress rather than take out a loan: fewer students in debtThe number of student loan agreements signed in 2016 dropped significantly compared to previous years, to 44,000. Although all of the loans investigated in the Student Loan Test 2017 were assessed as being reliable, experts recommend exercising caution. This is particularly the case with new private loans that call themselves “student loans” – these offer much poorer conditions.

News 09.06.2017CHE kurz + kompakt: new information format for prospective studentsTips, checklists and a brief six-page overview for prospective students: the CHE Centre for Higher Education now offers a new series of online publications on selected topics. The new series called CHE kurz + kompakt starts out with issues on student loans, part-time study, and the differences between universities and universities of applied sciences.

News 31.05.2017All-day education: commonplace at school, but not yet entrenched in teacher trainingFor many teachers, working at an all-day school has already become a reality, resulting automatically in collaboration with other professional groups in education. When training to become a teacher, however, students learn only very little about the issue of all-day education, as a publication issued by Monitor Lehrerbildung has revealed. Experts call for future teachers to be prepared more effectively for the requirements of multiprofessional teamwork and all-day teaching whilst at university.

News 09.05.2017CHE Hochschulranking 2017/2018 published in new ZEIT Study GuideStudents assess their study conditions in the latest CHE University Ranking, which is published today in the ZEIT Study Guide 2017/18. One third of all subjects are reassessed each year. Those re-evaluated this year were Business Administration, Law, Economics, Social Work, Business Computing, Industrial Engineering, Business Law and Economic Sciences

News 21.04.2017Higher education funding in Latvia: how internal resource allocation and governance structures at higher education institutions respond to state reformsBy reforming the state funding model for higher education in 2014, Latvia has entered new territory. The intriguing question raised by the change in state resource allocation is whether HEIs will use the new model as an incentive to further develop their internal funding systems and governance structures.
This issue was as the heart of a project with World Bank support, initiated in 2016, which involved CHE Executive Director Professor Dr. Frank Ziegele in the capacity of Senior Consultant

News 07.04.2017Children whose parents did not attend university benefit in particular from study abroad staysWhether students grow in self-confidence or improve their language skills: a stay abroad (study or internship) for university studies, enhances performance in many areas. Children whose parents did not attend university observe these effects in some areas even more strongly than their peers with a different educational background. These are the results of an analysis conducted by the CHE Centre for Higher Education.

News 30.03.2017U-Multirank shines light on ‘hidden gem’ universities in latest releaseU-Multirank, the largest global university ranking, has today published a major new release of data (www.umultirank.org) showcasing 1,500 universities and shining a spotlight on high-performing universities that would otherwise go unnoticed. Now in its fourth year and involving more universities than ever before, U-Multirank has been able to identify ‘hidden gem’ universities that are bold new competitors on the world stage in a host of different areas. This allows students, universities, businesses, policy-makers and governments to make better informed comparisons of how universities worldwide perform

News 22.03.2017Increasing numbers of people are studying on basis of their vocational qualification in German higher education institutions Normally students in German higher education institutions are possessing a diploma from a secondary school like the Abitur (A-level-degree). But since 2009 it is also possible to enroll at a university or university of applied science on basis of a vocational training certificate. The number of this group of students has now reached a new peak of around 51,000. Most of these students are pursuing Bachelor studies; Master’s programmes are less popular as yet. There are considerable differences in the increase in the number of first-year students without Abitur between eastern and western Germany. These findings were established recently by the CHE Centre for Higher Education.

News 13.03.2017The closest higher education institution is no more than 59 kilometres awayThe rapid growth in Germany’s student population has led to an increasing number of HEI institutions. An analysis conducted by the CHE Centre for Higher Education has revealed that the geographic coverage of academic education pretty much spans the entire country. The main reason for this high-density coverage is the establishment of new universities of applied science as well as satellite campuses of these institutions.

News 08.03.2017FRUIT: launch of new project to increase the percentage of women studying Computer ScienceAround International Women’s Day (8 March), the CHE Centre for Higher Education launched a research project to investigate the circumstances related to women studying Computer Science. The project focuses on ways to increase the percentage of women in subjects related to the field of Computer Science.

News 07.03.2017Hochschulforum Digitalisierung: digital strategy consulting available for six universities Hochschulforum Digitalisierung (German Forum for Higher Education in the Digital Age) continues its work and is now offering strategy consulting to universities. Until 2020, the Forum will support six universities each year in developing their own strategy for teaching and learning in the digital age, ensuring its alignment with the university’s individual goals. The aim of the new programme is to advance sustainable and strategic integration of digital teaching and learning in higher education

News 22.02.2017Greater diversity on campus: five factors of success of private higher education institutionsGermany’s private higher education sector is thriving. The sector is particularly good at attracting new target groups among students. CHE has identified the factors behind this success. The result: the crucial factors are individual service and course provision, combined with course content that is highly relevant to graduates’ professional practice.

News 17.02.2017EU project launched on dual study programmes in Africa The aim of the EU project, which kicked off with a two-day workshop at Austria’s Danube University Krems, is to promote the establishment and further development of dual study programmes in South Africa and Mozambique. Over the next three years, a 40-strong team with representatives from 16 European and African partner organisations will join forces to work on the project entitled “LaTFURE − Learning and Teaching Tools Fuelling University Relations with the Economy in Mozambique and South Africa”. The main objective is to reflect on and improve the institutional and governmental framework for bringing academic and vocational education closer together in the two African countries.

News 13.01.2017Charging fees for international students is the wrong route to takeCurrent draft legislation drawn up by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts (MWK) provides for the introduction of tuition fees for international students and for second degrees as of winter semester 2017/18. CHE has been requested by the MWK to comment on the draft legislation